LANSING, MI — Another Michigan lawmaker has introduced legislation to change the way tickets can be sold and resold for concerts, games and other events – a move that’s drawn criticism from Palace Sports and Entertainment.

Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, introduced House bills 5827 and 5828 on Wednesday to prohibit electronic tickets that cannot be resold or used by anyone but the ticket purchaser. It also bans the use of robotic software, or ticket bots, to quickly purchase large quantities of hot-selling tickets in order to be sold on the secondary market.

Cotter’s bills also would require ticket resellers to give refunds for fraudulent tickets and operate call centers for customer issues.

They serve as companion bills to those introduced in June by Sen. Joe Hune, R-Hamburg Township.

The bills’ supporters say that ticket bots make it harder for fans to get face-value seats. They oppose paperless tickets because for the most part they can’t be resold or given to someone else.

Palace Sports and Entertainment refused comment for an MLive article earlier this month but released a statement on the legislation this afternoon. The Auburn Hills-based company includes some of the state’s largest concert and event venues: The Palace of Auburn Hills (home of the Detroit Pistons), DTE Energy Music Theatre and Meadowbrook Music Festival.

Lucinda Treat, executive vice president for business operations and strategy, said in a statement that the company is committed to making sure fans have access to face value tickets and is opposed to the legislation.

“Unfortunately, the new ticketing bills being proposed are a wolf in sheep's clothing - supported by StubHub and other out-of-state special interests that profit off of the exorbitant markups that scalpers charge fans. Restricting venues from protecting the safety, integrity and access for their fans is a mistake – and would reverse long-standing venue and consumer protections under Michigan law. Over and over again, venues are left to deal with disappointed fans who have secured tickets from unscrupulous sellers. The proposed bill would do more harm than good – while also banning important ticketing innovations used by teams, artists and venues to help make sure all fans get access to the best available tickets at face value.”

Ticketmaster.com, part of Live Nation Entertainment, lets artists choose to offer paperless or will call-only tickets for selected seats at their concerts.

The ticket purchaser must bring the credit card used to buy the tickets along with photo ID in order to enter the venue along with any guests. There’s no paper tickets involved, so they can’t be resold or transferred. In certain cases they may be resold through TicketMaster’s TicketExchange, which charges a fee.

The system allows performers to preserve face-value tickets for their fans by drastically cutting down on scalping through secondary market sites like StubHub.com, said Ticketmaster spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson.

Ticketmaster also owns TicketsNow, a major player in the secondary ticket marketplace.

The proposed legislation was applauded by some conservative and consumer advocacy groups.

“Michigan has seen an increasing number of harmful practices used by dishonest ticket scalpers and big companies like Ticketmaster that violate or completely take away consumer rights” Linda Teeter, executive director of Michigan Citizen Action, said in a statement. “This legislation ensures consumers have access to affordable tickets in an open, fair ticket market while protecting them against unnecessary restrictions.”

The American Conservative Union and Institute for Liberty also voiced support for the bills.

Lawmakers may consider additional ticketing legislation. Rep. Douglas Geiss, D-Taylor, said last month that he plans to introduce legislation to limit price markups of tickets sold on the secondary market to up to 10 percent above face value and also require online resellers to publish the original price of the ticket.

StubHub and consumer groups like Fan Freedom Project oppose the measure, contending it is much better for tickets to be resold in a legal consumer-protected environment than on the streets.